 Bourne-Taylor was educated at Abingdon School (where he rowed for the Abingdon School Boat Club) and then Christ Church, Oxford (2000–2005) where he read engineering.While at Oxford University, Bourne-Taylor was a member of Oxford University Boat Club and took part in the Boat Race four times in five years between 2001 and 2005 (taking a year off to train for the 2004 Summer Olympics).He was elected president of the Oxford University Boat Club for the 2004–05 academic year.